


Dark circled eyes

by SiblingCruel



Category: Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari | Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Avengers - Freeform, Loki - Freeform, Loki Posing as Odin, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mental Illness, Other, Post-Thor: The Dark World, Thor - Freeform, silent film, somnambulism, the cabinet of dr. caligari - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-11 18:13:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12940908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SiblingCruel/pseuds/SiblingCruel
Summary: After Thor The Dark World. Loki disguised as Odin travels back to earth. He's looking for a certain doctor he'd heard a lot about.





	1. Chapter 1

Loki had been awake all night, again. He felt as if a nuclear bomb had decided to explode in his brain. His vision became distorted, and the air hard to breathe. Trying to come to his senses somewhat, Loki closed his weary eyes again. He had to do this, despite how close he was to collapse. He managed to ignore the aggressive headache and opened his eyes once again. His vision was clearer now and he could focus on the man in front of him. Loki sat in an office chair, surrounded by piles of old books. In front of him, on the desk, laid a book with the title Somnambulism. Opposite him sat an old man, tied up to a chair. The man had a peculiar appearance. His face was wrinkled and his hair grey. The man's eyes were dark and menacing, with a sharp gaze. His mouth corners pointing down in a permanent grimace. A small pair of glasses sat on his big nose, giving the impression of dangerous intelligence. The man wasn’t a pleasant view. One look at the man and you can tell he’s a maniac. Loki wasn’t though disturbed by this. Probably because the man was tied up to a chair, but he’d seen a lot. The man was harmless in his chair. That however, didn’t stop him from giving Loki murderous looks. Loki looked at the man for a while, almost as if to make sure he was real. The man stared back with eyes full of hate. If looks could kill, Loki would be nothing but a bloody mess of flesh and organs now. Loki cleared his throat, and held up the book before the man. “I give you one last chance” He said with as much sharpness he could muster. Loki had to appear strong to get his will through.

If the man discovered how weak and tired he actually was, he wouldn’t tell him a word.

The man had remained silent since the day he was captured, but Loki felt like it was a matter of time before he would speak. “If you do not tell me where you keep your somnambulist-slave, you will be tortured” Loki said loudly but his voice cracked slightly at the end. The man sneered at him. “Damn” Loki muttered. He began to regret being awake at nights, reading that stupid book. Because of that he barely could sit up straight. He’d been awake for many days before, but never two weeks on a row. He started to grow desperate. “I understand. You want all the power for yourself. I too, want all the power for myself. But if you’re the genius you claim to be, I suggest we cooperate.” The man looked at Loki as if he was a five-year-old who just told him he was going to live on the moon. ‘Stubborn old man’ Loki thought angrily. “Together, we can have greater power than your tiny mind ever can imagine, I’m a king, a god! I’m more powerful than the fucking president of your stupid America!” Loki were now yelling at him. His anger had given him adrenaline. He was greeted with more silence. Loki collected himself. “You have made your opinion very clear, mister Caligari. You have chosen to be my enemy instead of my ally.” Loki gave a crooked smile “I guess I have to use some more violent methods” The man’s expression didn’t change when Loki showed him his torture tools. “Which one would you like me to start with” He said and let his fingertips slide over the tools. He stopped on the little pear-looking metal object and picked it up, observing it closely. Loki had to get a reaction from the man by now, but saw no change in the man’s menacing eyes. “How about this one” Loki continued, holding the object in front of the man.

“The pear of anguish is said to be the most painful of them all” He whispered. Loki was about to continue when the door slammed open and one of his guards entered the office. Loki span around irritably. “Can you not see I’m busy!?” He yelled. “We have found Cesare, your majesty” The guard said. Loki’s attention moved from the old man to the guard. Could it be true? Had they found him? Restraining his excitement, Loki put the pear of anguish back on the table. “Good. Bring him to me” He said sharply. The guard gave a signal for the other guards to come in. They entered the office, carrying a long wooden coffin. Loki could no longer hold back his excitement. He clasped his hands together fondly. Finally, after so many months looking for that damn somnambulist, he now had him in front of him. The first time he heard about that old man Caligari and his somnambulist-slave Cesare, was during his invasion on earth a year ago. A lot has happened since then and he had now come back to earth. According to the myth, a man had once stolen a somnambulist from a mental asylum in Germany. He called himself Caligari, after a man who lived in the 18th century. With his somnambulist he had toured around in Europe, showing up his somnambulist on funfairs and amusement parks. Wherever they went, people were murdered. Caligari claims that his somnambulist, called Cesare, has been sleeping for 23 years without interruption. Rumours said that Caligari could control Cesare, and that late at nights he awakened from his eternal sleep to sneak out in the dark, murdering on Caligari’s command. No one had ever been able to defeat them, Cesare is said to be invincible. If controlling him, you’d become unstoppable.

 

This had of course caught Loki’s interest, and has been looking for this man Caligari ever since he came back from Svartalfheim, disguising himself as Odin. Traveling back to earth was almost the first thing he did, along with some guards. It didn’t take too long for them to find the old man. The somnambulist though, was a different case. Loki tried everything, magic, torture, spells, manipulation. Caligari had not said a word about where he hid Cesare. Loki had been so close to give up, exhausted from his lack of sleep, staying up all nights reading Caligari’s books. He almost began to doubt if this Cesare even existed. But there he was now, right in front of him. “Put it down” Loki commanded. The guards obeyed and put it carefully on the floor. Loki gave the guards a thankful nod. They bowed in respect and left the room. Loki watched the door close behind the guards. Then he turned the attention to the coffin. A mischievous smile appeared on his lips as he slowly opened it.


	2. Chapter 2

 

The man was ghostly pale, tall and slim, much like Loki himself. His dark circled eyes were closed in deep sleep. His hair pitch black, just like his skin tight clothes. His breaths were so faint that you could barely see his chest moving. One could look at the man and believe he was dead. That’s closer to accuracy though than assuming he’s just asleep. The man in the coffin had now been sleeping for 23 years without interruption, at least that’s what the legend says. Loki observed the sleeping man, letting his hand touch him briefly, just to make sure he was real. He’d half expected the man’s skin to be cold, but was taken by surprise at the warmth that spread through his own cold hand. Loki took a few steps back, disbelief in his eyes. Was this really the infamous murderer that ice coldly had killed hundreds of innocent people without as much as hesitating? Could it really be him? The man looked fragile and tenuous, not at all like a killer-machine. But Loki decided not to judge the book by the cover. Instead he turned to Caligari, who still were tied up to his chair. The old man had been watching them intensely ever since the somnambulist was brought in, and for the first time a faint nervousness broke through his mask of malice.

 

“It appears like I’ve found your precious little monster” Loki said with a pleased mocking tone. “I’m afraid that means you’re no longer in use” Loki continued as he walked a crossed the room, hands clasped together behind his back. “I’d love to let you go, but I’m afraid you’re too much of a threat to my plans” As he talked he curiously watched how Caligari’s mask grew fainter and fainter, showing his even more growing worry. “Perhaps killing you would be by fault” He paused, “or maybe not” He spun around and looked the old man deep in the eyes. “Perhaps locking you in would be for the best” He said with a wicked smile.

Panic was now visible in the man’s foul face.

 

Cesare found himself whirling around in a void of darkness. Something felt off, like something was missing, or as if something within had let go. Since his perception of time has been long lost, he could only guess how long he’d been there. Two hours perhaps? He couldn’t remember where he’d been earlier, though he remembered some places he’d visited. They were all made up places in his mind, sort of like a dreamland. He’d been in different sort of voids before, but never entirely in darkness. This was new to him and it frightened him a bit, though he felt quite numb. He always did. Feelings were different while asleep, more slow kind of. Ne never really felt happy, nor sad. All he felt were echoes of all those feelings. He wasn’t even really sure if the darkness really frightened him, or if he just thought he felt it because something was new to him. How long would he be here this time? Where were he? Was he alone? Cesare tried to yell but nothing came out of his mouth. His voice had died long ago, though it still surprised him every time he couldn’t her his own voice, or at least he thought it surprised him. Cesare closed his eyes. ‘One, two, three…’ He tried to count seconds, something he often does when he’s bored. ‘Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen…’ He continued counting till he lost track and started all over again.

 

“Cesare?”

 

He stopped counting. A voice had called out his name. A harsh female’s voice. His body tensed.

 

“Cesare are you even paying attention?”

 

Cesare opened his eyes. The darkness was gone and he was sitting in a chair. In front of him stood a tall woman with red hair tied in a knot and wearing a neat dress, looking very mature and professional. She pointed at something behind her, a big black board hanging on the wall. She pointed at the small white lines written on the board. “Can you answer the question please?” She said to him. It was more like a command than a question. There were children around him, too. Sitting in chairs like himself. They were all looking at him, laughing at him. Looking back at the teacher, he now realised she held something in her hand. A whip. A mixtuer of malice and disappointment shone in her eyes. For the first time, as long back as Cesare could recall, he suddenly was overwhelmed with a sharp feeling. He was scared. Scared of the woman in front of him, scared of what appeared to be children sitting on similar chairs around him. Scared, because for the first time he remembered. He remembered everything.

 

 

Loki woke up in the middle of the night, by odd muffled sounds. His lack of sleep from earlier has made him extremely sensitive to even the softest of sounds. He sat up, darting his eyes around the room. He heard the sounds again. They came from the coffin. A shiver went down Loki’s spine. Could it be the sleeping man? Has he finally woken up? No, that’s impossible, Loki knew that. Almost frozen, Loki sat in his office chair, waiting for something to happen. The sound was heard once more. Slowly Loki stood up. Every sense of self-awareness screamed to leave it, but his curiousness has always been stronger. Slowly he approached the coffin, and stopped right in front of it. Loki decided not to hesitate, before he could regret it. With determination he opened the coffin, prepared to fight whatever he had to face. What he saw really took him off guard. The somnambulist was crying. Crying in his sleep. “That’s… not possible.” Loki mumbled.


End file.
